Spork structure

ABSTRACT

A spork structure includes a spoon body, a handle, and two outer serrated plates and at least an inner serrated plate arranged apart from one another at the front end of the spoon body. The inner serrated plate has a height difference portion, and the spork structure is integrally formed by pressing a plant fiber slurry, and the height difference portion is provided for enhancing the structural strength of the inner serrated plate, so that the spork structure has a better structural strength to pierce through food such as steaks, pork chops, vegetables, and fruits, and the spork structure is 100% decomposable naturally after being discarded, and thus having an environmental protection effect.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a spork structure, in particular to thespork structure integrally formed by pressing a plant fiber slurry andcomprised of a handle, a spoon body, an outer serrated plate, an innerserrated plate, and a height difference portion, and the spork structureenhances the structural strength and stability of an inner serratedplate at the front end of the spork structure, and the spork structurecan be 100% naturally decomposed after being discarded.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 1. Description of the Related Art

Traditional disposable plastic tableware is easy to cause environmentalpollutions, so that decomposable tableware made of wheat, rice straw orcorn is commercially available in recent years. However, the mainingredient of this kind of tableware is polylactic acid or polylactide(PLA), and researches indicate that most disposable tableware are madeby mixing PLA and traditional plastic to improve the heat resistance anddurability of the tableware. After PLA is added to plastic, the PLAcannot be decomposed completely and it is difficult to classify suchmaterial by the recycle system, and it becomes a waste that cannot berecycled or creates another type of plastic pollution.

Further, a disposable paper spork is used as an example for illustratingthe present invention. In general, the paper spork is formed integrallyby pressing a pulp. The structure of the sporks of this kind generallyhas an outer serrated plate disposed separately on both sides of thefront end of the spork and an inner serrated plate disposed between bothouter serrated plates at the front end of the spork. However, the innerserrated plate is substantially in form a paper sheet with a flat shape,so that the structural strength is poor and the inner serrated plate maybe bent or deformed easily when used for flipping and digging food, andthe structural strength is insufficient to pierce the spork into foodlike steak, pork chop, vegetables, fruits, etc. and thus the innerserrated plate loses its function completely.

In view of the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art, the inventorof the present invention based on years of experience in the relatedindustry to conduct extensive research and experiment, and finallyprovided an innovative spork structure to overcome the drawbacks of thetraditional paper spork having insufficient structural strength of theinner serrated plate.

2. Summary of the Invention

Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention toovercome the drawback of the prior art by providing a spork structurecomprising a spoon body, and a handle disposed at a rear end of thespoon body, characterized in that: the spoon body has two outer serratedplates, at least an inner serrated plate arranged apart from one anotherat the front end of the spoon body and disposed between the two outerserrated plates, and a fin disposed on both side edges of the spoon bodyand extended to the outer serrated plates separately to reinforce theouter serrated plate, and the inner serrated plate has a heightdifference portion to reinforce the inner serrated plate, and the spoonbody, the outer serrated plate, the fin, the inner serrated plate, theheight difference portion and the handle are integrally formed bypressing a plant fiber slurry.

The present invention uses the height difference portion to improve thestructural strength and stability of the inner serrated plate toguarantee a normal use and operation of the spork. In addition, thespork structure is 100% naturally decomposable and thus complying withthe environmental protection requirements and overcoming the drawbacksof the inner serrated plate of the conventional spork with aninsufficient structural strength.

In an exemplary embodiment, the spoon body has both side edges disposedbetween both front end and rear end of the spoon body, so that the frontend, rear end, and both side edges define a concave surface at the topof the spoon body, and a convex surface at the bottom of the spoon body,and both sides of the inner serrated plate has a top coupled to theconcave surface of the spoon body and a bottom coupled to the convexsurface of the spoon body, and the plant fiber slurry is made of pulp,corncob, bagasse or gramineous plant (such as a rice straw and a wheatstraw).

In an exemplary embodiment, the height difference portion includes aprotrusion formed at the top of the inner serrated plate and a recessionformed at the bottom of the inner serrated plate, so that the recessionis disposed at a position of the inner serrated plate and configured tobe opposite to the protrusion.

In an exemplary embodiment, the height difference portion is extendedfrom the front end of the spoon body to the inner serrated plate, andthe height difference portion includes a protrusion formed at the top ofthe concave surface, the top of the concave surface, and the top of aninner serrated plate, and a recession formed at the bottom of the convexsurface of the spoon body and the bottom of the inner serrated plate, sothat the recession disposed on the inner serrated plate and configuredto be opposite to the protrusion.

In an exemplary embodiment, the inner serrated plate has both sideswhich are tilted edges, and the height difference portion is extendedalong one of the tilted edges of the inner serrated plate.

In an exemplary embodiment, the handle has a rib formed thereon andprotruded towards the top or bottom of the handle.

To make it easier for our examiner to understand the objective,technical characteristics, structure, innovative features, andperformance of the invention, we use preferred embodiments together withthe attached drawings for the detailed description of the invention. Itis noteworthy that the embodiments are provided for the purpose ofillustrating the invention but not intended for limiting the scope ofthe invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a spork structure of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is an inverted perspective view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a side view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a front view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a side view of a modified embodiment of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 for a spork structure in accordance witha preferred embodiment of the present invention, the spork structurecomprises a spoon body 1 and a handle 2. The spoon body 1 has a frontend 101, a rear end 102, and two side edges 103, and both side edges 103of the spoon body 1 are disposed between the front end 101 and rear end102 of the spoon body 1 respectively, and the handle 2 is disposed atthe rear end 102 of the spoon body 1. The front end 101, rear end 102and two side edges 103 of the spoon body 1 define a curved concavesurface 11 at the top of the spoon body 1 for containing food. Inaddition, the front end 101, rear end 102 and two side edges 103 of thespoon body 1 define a curved convex surface 12 at the bottom of thespoon body 1.

In a preferred embodiment, two outer serrated plates 13 and at least aninner serrated plate 14 are arranged apart from one another at the frontend 101 of the spoon body 1, and the inner serrated plate 14 is disposedbetween the outer serrated plates 13. Both sides of the inner serratedplate 14 are a top 141 and a bottom 142, and the top 141 of the innerserrated plate 14 is coupled to the concave surface 11 of the spoon body1, and the bottom 142 of the inner serrated plate 14 is coupled to theconvex surface 12 of the spoon body 1. Both side edges 103 of the spoonbody 1 have a fin 15, and an end of the fin 15 is extended to the outerserrated plate 13 or out of the outer serrated plate 13 for enhancingthe structural strength of the outer serrated plate 13. In a preferredembodiment, the inner serrated plate 14 has a height difference portion16 for reinforcing the structural strength of the inner serrated plate14. The spoon body 1, outer serrated plate 13, fin 15, inner serratedplate 14, height difference portion 16 and handle 2 are integrallyformed by pressing a plant fiber slurry, wherein the plant fiber is madeof pulp (long-fiber pulp), corncob, bagasse, or gramineous plant (suchas rice straw and wheat straw).

With reference to FIGS. 3 to 6 for a spork structure in accordance withan exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the height differenceportion 16 is extended from the front end 101 of the spoon body 1 to theinner serrated plate 14, and the height difference portion 16 includes aprotrusion 161 and a recession 162, and the protrusion 161 is formed onthe concave surface 11 at the front end 101 of the spoon body 1 and thetop 141 of the inner serrated plate 14, and the recession 162 is formedon the convex surface 12 at the front end 101 of the spoon body 1 andthe bottom 142 of the inner serrated plate 14, so that the recession 162is configured to be opposite to the protrusion 161 of the inner serratedplate 14. Both sides of the inner serrated plate 14 have a tilted edge143, and the height difference portion 16, the protrusion 161 and therecession 162 are extended along one of the tilted edges 143 of theinner serrated plate 14.

Alternatively, the protrusion 161 of the height difference portion 16may be formed at the top 141 of the inner serrated plate 14 separately,and the recession 162 of the height difference portion 16 at the bottom142 of the inner serrated plate 14 separately.

In the present invention, the spork structure is integrally formed bypressing a plant fiber slurry, and the protrusion 161 and recession 162of the height difference portion 16 are provided for enhancing thestructural strength of the inner serrated plate 14 to improve thestability of the inner serrated plate 14. Meanwhile, the fin 15 isprovided for enhancing the structural strength of both side edges 103 ofthe spoon body 1 and the outer serrated plate 13 to guarantee a normaluse and operation of the inner serrated plate 14 and the outer serratedplate 13 of the spoon body 1 of the spork structure, and the sporkstructure is 100% naturally decomposable and thus complies with theenvironmental protection requirements. The present invention overcomesthe insufficient structural strength of the inner serrated plate of thetraditional paper spork structure.

In a feasible embodiment, the handle 2 has a rib 21 for enhancing thestructure, and the rib 21 is protruded towards the top of the handle 2to prevent the source or juice from overflowing backward while digginginto the food.

With reference to FIG. 7 for a modified embodiment, the rib 22 isprotruded towards the bottom of the handle 2.

What is claimed is:
 1. A spork structure, comprising a spoon body, and ahandle disposed at a rear end of the spoon body, characterized in that:the spoon body has two outer serrated plates, at least an inner serratedplate arranged apart from one another at the front end of the spoon bodyand disposed between the two outer serrated plates, and a fin disposedon both side edges of the spoon body and extended to the outer serratedplates separately to reinforce the outer serrated plate, and the innerserrated plate has a height difference portion to reinforce the innerserrated plate, and the spoon body, the outer serrated plate, the fin,the inner serrated plate, the height difference portion and the handleare integrally formed by pressing a plant fiber slurry.
 2. The sporkstructure of claim 1, wherein the spoon body has both side edgesdisposed between both front end and rear end of the spoon body, so thatthe front end, rear end, and both side edges define a concave surface atthe top of the spoon body, and a convex surface at the bottom of thespoon body, and both sides of the inner serrated plate has a top coupledto the concave surface of the spoon body and a bottom coupled to theconvex surface of the spoon body, and the plant fiber slurry is made ofpulp, corncob, bagasse or gramineous plant.
 3. The spork structure ofclaim 2, wherein the height difference portion includes a protrusionformed at the top of the inner serrated plate and a recession formed atthe bottom of the inner serrated plate, so that the recession isdisposed at a position of the inner serrated plate and configured to beopposite to the protrusion.
 4. The spork structure of claim 1, whereinthe inner serrated plate has both sides which are tilted edges, and theheight difference portion is extended along one of the tilted edges ofthe inner serrated plate.
 5. The spork structure of claim 1, wherein thehandle has a rib formed thereon and protruded towards the top or bottomof the handle.